A teenager who is also a bus enthusiast managed to buy a customized four-seater hatchback that has been turned into a bus, Britain’s smallest.
It was in 2018 when 19-year-old Jason Fern saw a Fiat Seicento SX on sale. He quickly snapped it up and has managed to drive hundreds of miles across the UK in it.
The car comes in the Arriva bus company’s green and blue paint scheme, complete with checkered seats, a ticket machine, and a Sorry Not In Service sign.
Watch the video to find out more about this customized car below.
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Video credit: Rumble
Jason, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, says that despite the astonished looks of pedestrians, people still flag his car down whenever he’s on a bus lane.
The trainee bus driver said: “I get loads of people waving whenever I drive past in the car.
“Sometimes if I go past a bus lane people will signal for me to pull over.
“I’m proud of the car, it’s a great bit of kit and not something you usually see out on the roads.”
Jason has loved buses since childhood. He saw a Facebook advertisement for the car in 2018 and he didn’t hesitate to buy it.
Apparently, only two copies of the Arriva bus cars were made and Jason’s might be the only one in existence that’s left.
The interior of the car features the same blue-checked padding in Arriva buses and the original bus seats. The driver’s seat houses the on-board ticket machine for scanning bus passes and even has a tray to hold newspapers.
The car’s exterior has the same stickers that any commercial bus would have along with a security camera and its own electric route sign.
Jason has not regretted a moment since buying this little piece of history.
He said: “I was on the train from Brighton to London after stopping at a friend’s house for a few days. I was back at work later that night. Whilst on the train, I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw an advert with the car for sale.
“A couple of phone calls later and I had agreed to purchase it with the help of a friend.
“A month or so later, we arranged a recovery vehicle to collect the car and I went with the vehicle. A week or so later, and the car was ready to hit the road.
“Since then, I have taken it to many bus rallies up and down the country, from as far north as Morecambe, to as far south as Luton.
“Whenever people see it they say it’s amazing and how impressed they are.
“I bought it because it is quirky, unique and it is something to take to bus shows.
“Many people ask what it is, why does it look like that, and the history behind it.
“I’m just so proud to own such a unique vehicle.”
Replaced!